Time for a new car!

Sammy13

Sammy13

Sammy13

Associate
Joined
10 May 2009
Posts
16
Hey,

I currently have a 1998 S reg Ka. I've had it for over a year and it has served me well but now that it's done 97000 miles, it's time for something new.

I've been round and looked at loads of dealerships and I like a lot of the cars on the outside but not so keen on the inside...until I saw the Fiat 500. I think it looks great on both the inside and out. The only downside to this is of course the price. They are expensive for what you actually get (i.e. no air con).
I've looked at used ones and they still seem expensive compared to other cars of similar age and price.

I'm open to new because of the scrappage scheme but there seems so many downsides to that so am opting more towards a car of a year old.
If I want to buy outright then the budget is £5000 but I am happy to finance also so the budget can go up to £8500 (Fiat 500 price)

I use the car to get to and from uni on a regular basis so need it to be reliable and cheap to run.
I don't need anything too fancy but I do want a few nice extras!
It also has to be small as I don’t like big cars, there’s no need for me to have one and prefer the little things in life! So no astras, mondeos, focus’ please 

So my questions are:

What do you think of the 500?
What car would you recommend?
Should I buy new or nearly new?

Thanks in advance!
 
not sure what car i would go for in your situation. Probably just something like a crummy old 106 or saxo, while your at uni. Then save for something a lot nicer once you leave uni, and can afford the higher running costs.

How many miles are you doing a week, can't be many if your just tootling to uni and back?

EDIT,

yeah why on earth don't you just keep the ka, just run it until it becomes uneconomical to repair. Spending 8.7k on a small car needed for a few small trips every week is pretty mad.
 
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I find it somewhat strange that you have signed up to ask this particular question here.

But back on subject, why do you need a new or nearly new car? You're at uni and have said you will need to finance the car; so it seems you're not exactly cash rich.

Why not just do what most students do (like myself), get an older car which can still be equally as reliable and much much less expensive to buy.

Also you say your Ford Ka has served you well but has 97k. Why get rid of it? It will not disintegrate once it gets to 100k you know. Just maintain it as it has been done for the last 97k miles and there shouldn't be any reason that it will be too problematic at all.
 
Keep the Ka until the prices of 500's go down then you can buy one outright.

8.5k on a little car like that is madness :/
 
Thomas. PLease. said:
claimed

not sure what car i would go for in your situation. Probably just something like a crummy old 106 or saxo, while your at uni. Then save for something a lot nicer once you leave uni, and can afford the higher running costs.

How many miles are you doing a week, can't be many if your just tootling to uni and back?

EDIT,

yeah why on earth don't you just keep the ka, just run it until it becomes uneconomical to repair. Spending 8.7k on a small car needed for a few small trips every week is pretty mad.
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I'm doing about 150 miles a week, two 50 minute motorway journeys.
My car is becoming uneconomical to run atm.

Dorje said:
I find it somewhat strange that you have signed up to ask this particular question here.

But back on subject, why do you need a new or nearly new car? You're at uni and have said you will need to finance the car; so it seems you're not exactly cash rich.

Why not just do what most students do (like myself), get an older car which can still be equally as reliable and much much less expensive to buy.

Also you say your Ford Ka has served you well but has 97k. Why get rid of it? It will not disintegrate once it gets to 100k you know. Just maintain it as it has been done for the last 97k miles and there shouldn't be any reason that it will be too problematic at all.
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It has not been serviced for the last 4/5 years and is starting to fall apart and I don't want to be stranded on the motorway on my own with only the RAC to rescue me!

Every week something new goes wrong with it and it's starting to cost me a lot! Market value is probably about £500~.

I'm not the 'norm' uni student with all my course fees being funded by the NHS so the majority of my spare cash can be used for a new car :)
 
Fair play, but if I were you I would half the budget and get something a lot more comfortable if you are doing a fair amount of miles.

Spend less on the car, get something nicely comfortable, and save the rest to help go towards running costs.

Why is it you want a small car?
 
Thomas. PLease. said:
Fair play, but if I were you I would half the budget and get something a lot more comfortable if you are doing a fair amount of miles.

Spend less on the car, get something nicely comfortable, and save the rest to help go towards running costs.

Why is it you want a small car?
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Such as? I'm happy to half the budget but what car should I be looking for? I'm 19 btw so insurance is a factor, my current KA costs me about £400 FC.

Janesy B said:
And why not service this new car so it does fall apart. If you bothered to service it, it wouldn't be so unreliable.
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Cause the car isn't worth anything, I brought it cheap as it hadn't been serviced. It also needs lots more doing to it (cambelt, supension and loads of other things plus stuff for the MOT in a few months).
 
:/

My car is worth bugger all but it still gets fresh oil and filters every six months. How much it's worth doesn't even come into the equation, it's whether or not I want to be stranded at if roadsize.

You clearly don't look after your cars so why bother buying anything nice.

I also don't know why you are saying it needs a cambelt as the KA has a timing chain.
 
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Sammy13 said:
Such as? I'm happy to half the budget but what car should I be looking for? I'm 19 btw so insurance is a factor, my current KA costs me about £400 FC.
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Completely depends what you want from the car? What sort of cars do you like the look of? Do you want it to be really comfortable, or sporty and fun to drive? and how much you want to spend. Even £3000 can buy a lot of metal.

I'm not saying you should listen to me, but i think you should definetly open your options a bit more, rather than jumping straight in and just buying the first new car that you like the look of.

If I were you, i'd go down to a few dealers, explain your situation, and budget, and let them show you a few cars. Go for some test drives, and see what you think.
 
Its unusual for someone to come into these parts saying they have a crap old car and want a new one to be told to keep it...

£5000 would buy a tidy focus....
 
Janesy B said:
:/

My car is worth bugger all but it still gets fresh oil and filters every six months. How much it's worth doesn't even come into the equation, it's whether or not I want to be stranded at if roadsize.

You clearly don't look after your cars so why bother buying anything nice.

I also don't know why you are saying it needs a cambelt as the KA has a timing chain.
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I've only just had the car for a year (so it's not my fault for not having had the car service for so long) and it was brought as a cheap run around as someone crashed into my last car.

The KA is on it's last legs so I need something different/new.

Thomas. PLease. said:
Completely depends what you want from the car? What sort of cars do you like the look of? Do you want it to be really comfortable, or sporty and fun to drive? and how much you want to spend. Even £3000 can buy a lot of metal.

I'm not saying you should listen to me, but i think you should definetly open your options a bit more, rather than jumping straight in and just buying the first new car that you like the look of.

If I were you, i'd go down to a few dealers, explain your situation, and budget, and let them show you a few cars. Go for some test drives, and see what you think.
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I've been down to some dealers but obviously they think there cars are the best as they want the same.
there are a lot of cars I like so I am open minded. I've test driven quite a few different cars (tbh they all seem to drive fine because my ka makes a lot of noises so anything seems great)

iaind said:
Its unusual for someone to come into these parts saying they have a crap old car and want a new one to be told to keep it...

£5000 would buy a tidy focus....
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Don't really want to go as big as a focus. I understand you get a lot more for your money buying a car like that but it just doesn't do anything for me.



I'm not saying I want to spend £8000 on a 500, I am happy to half this but I am still after something fairly new and with low mileage.
 
Sammy13 said:
Don't really want to go as big as a focus. I understand you get a lot more for your money buying a car like that but it just doesn't do anything for me.
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A Focus is a 3 door hatchback, it is not 'big' by any stretch of the imagination. It is a small car.
 
On a more serious note, the Fiat 500 is a great little car. I'd have a nearly new one to avoid loosing too much on depreciation though :)
 
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